RIT and Spectracom Awarded Grant By U.S. Air Force Research Labs

The U.S. Air Force Research Labs of Rome, N.Y., has awarded Rochester Institute of Technology and Spectracom Corporation with a grant worth nearly $100,000 over a nine-month period.

Funding will allow for further research on the application of the Multi-Mesh Tree routing protocol, a process allowing rapid, wireless communication via a radio link, designed for airborne networking. Multi-Mesh Tree protocol was developed by Nirmala Shenoy, director of RIT’s Lab for Wireless Networking and Security.

Researchers look to integrate this technology into unmanned aerial vehicles, known as UAV’s, which are used in combat for surveillance and gathering intelligence as they fly through combat zones at mach speeds.

“This technology is critical in combat—people’s lives are depending on it,” says John Fischer, project manager at Spectracom.

For more information contact Nirmala Shenoy at (585) 475-4887 or ns@it.rit.edu.